OLCV Talk

Senate Votes to Reduce Commitment to Clean Energy

The Oregon Senate, on a 25-3 vote, passed House Bill 2940 an hour ago. The bill weakens Oregon's commitment to clean energy by redefining what is "renewable" under Oregon's renewable energy standard passed in 2007. The Standard requires Oregon have 25% new renewable energy by 2025. This bill will reduce that commitment by about 26% by allowing old biomass and waste burning facilities to be counted as renewable facilities and towards the 25% goal.

Read more about the bill on BlueOregon and in an article in today's Oregonian.

The bill now returns to the House for concurrence with the Senate amendments, and then heads to the Governor.

The three Senators voting against the bill (thank you!) were Senators Bonamici, Rosenbaum, and Dingfelder.

Bam! Senate Moves to Limit New Coal Plants in Oregon

The Oregon Senate just took a step against future coal plants in Oregon.

Senate Bill 101, an OCN Priority Bill, would ensure electric utilities would not enter into new long-term contracts with dirty coal plants, and future long-term contracts are for energy sources that are at least as clean as natural gas generating facilities. The bill has several exemptions for cost and energy stability, but is a significant step forward in Oregon's path to a clean energy future. The bill, carried on the floor by Senator Walker, now heads to the House.

The vote was 17-11, with Senator Nelson joining 16 Democrats in voting aye, and Senator Johnson joining 10 Republicans voting nay. Senators Boquist and Devlin were excused.

Water, Water, in the Senate (Thanks, House!)

The Oregon House just passed an important bill that would shape how Oregon handles water storage and conservation into the future. The OCN Priority bill, HB 3369, was created through a session-long effort by Representatives Bob Jenson (R-Pendleton) and Jefferson Smith (D-Portland) and a fleet of stakeholders, including WaterWatch of Oregon.

The bill is a historic water package that includes standards for new storage projects, conservation efforts, and water planning. The bill integrates key provisions from Senate Bill 788, previously an OCN priority bill. The bill requires the Oregon Water Resources Department to develop an integrated statewide water resources policy that recognizes impending climate-related challenges, creates a funding pool intended for loans on water resources projects, and provides funding to help reduce the conflict between fish and irrigation needs in the Umatilla River Basin.

The bill passed on a 43-16 vote, with unanimous Democratic support (Komp excused) and support of eight Republicans: Berger, Bruun, Gilliam, Huffman, Jenson, Olson, Greg Smith, and Thompson. It now heads to the Senate, where it will be likely be heard Monday.

Good Paint Job!

We have our first 2009 victory in product stewardship legislation—Oregonians will now be able to conveniently recycle household paint!

Post-consumer paint is often the number one product, by volume and cost, coming into local hazardous waste programs. It is not uncommon to find unopened and partially used cans of paint in garages, basements, sheds and attics. House Bill 3037--which breezed through the house yesterday 45-11 and is merrily on its way to the gov's desk--addresses this issue and enables paint manufacturers to develop and implement a product stewardship based system to safely recover leftover household paint.

Under the product stewardship approach, producers will now be responsible for post-consumer paint collection, reuse, recycling and disposal activities – not only in the areas that are now being serviced, but in additional under-served areas of the state.  That means that consumers will now have more places to take left-over paint, and that contractors will now have the opportunity to drop off left-over paint for recycling and proper disposal without having to pay a separate fee. Additionally, the paint industry will be responsible for consumer education and outreach for the program.

House Bill 3037 represents real progress in producer responsibility for product stewardship and highlights ways state and local governments can save money while protecting Oregon’s environment.

 

Senate Moves Forward on Reducing Pollution from Fuel - Hooray!

On a 16-14 vote, the Oregon Senate just passed a stripped-down version of House Bill 2186. As amended in the Senate, the bill allows the state to develop a low-carbon fuel standard, which would reduce the carbon dioxide pollution from fuel by 10% by 2020. If the changes are agreed to by the House, and the bill signed by the Governor, Oregon will join California and eleven Northeast states in moving toward low carbon fuels.

The bill now includes a sunset of Dec 31, 2015, requiring renewal of the goal. It is expected that the standard would require about 2.5% reduction in pollution from fuel by that sunset.

The bill also allows the state to limit unnecessary idling by ships. Provisions to cut energy waste by improving truck aerodynamics, limiting truck idling, and prohibiting wasteful replacement tires were stripped from the bill in the Senate.

House Passes Important Invasive Species Legislation 44-15

On a 44-15 vote, the Oregon House just passed House Bill 2220B, a bill to create mobile check stations to inspect and clean boats that may be infected with invasive quagga or zebra mussels or aquatic plants.

Rep. Jenson (R-Pendleton), co-chair of the Natural Resources Subcommittee of Ways and Means, carried the bill on the floor. Many thanks to all the citizens who spoke out on this issue, and the bipartisan group of legislators who supported it, including Rep. Jenson.

The bill is an OCN Priority for a Healthy Oregon bill, and now heads to the Senate for consideration. Voting NO were Reps. Cameron, Clem, Freeman, Hanna, Huffman, Kennemer, Maurer, Olson, Richardson, Sprenger, Thatcher, Thompson, Weidner, Whisnant, and Wingard.

Metolius Bill Passes!

Congratulations to Representative Brian Clem who worked extremely hard all session to pass House Bill 3298 to protect the Metolius Basin. As Rep. Larry Galizio, D-Tigard, changed his previous opposition to the bill, Galizio became the 31st vote in favor of the the bill, meaning it passed and is on its way to the Governor!

House Bill 3298 will protect the Metolius River Basin, an Oregon treasure, for future generations. It would declare the area an “Area of Critical State Concern” and allow a limited amount of development in the basin. The Metolius River is a federally designated wild and scenic river, emerging from a spring and providing America’s best habitat for the endangered bull trout.

(photo from John Hutmacher, Deschutes National Forest)

Oregon Being Invaded by 15-Foot Carrots

I just had to write that headline.

Maybe it's not precise, but here's the scoop: Giant Hogweed, native to Asia, can grow from 10 to 15 feet tall. It is a member of the carrot and parsnip family. It's also an invasive species, and it's in Northwest Oregon at about 100 sites. It's the featured invasive species of the month.

OLCV is working to pass two more OCN Priority bills to stop invasive species this session: HB 2220 and HB 2020.

House Bill 2220 would allow the creation of mobile check stations to inspect and clean boats to prevent the introduction of invasive snails and mussels into Oregon's waterways. If mussels find their way to Oregon's waters they could cause millions of dollars of damages to Oregon infrastructure and ecosystems. HB 2220 also increases the penalties for intentionally introducing invasive species, something that can happen when fisherman stock a favorite non-native fish in the wrong lake. Such an action required a $6 million eradication effort in Southern Oregon's Diamond Lake just three years ago.

House Bill 2020 would set up an earmarked fund to respond quickly to invasive species outbreaks. It is seeded with $300,000. Quick response to eradicate invasive species can save taxpayers millions of dollars, and prevent expensive damages to key industries such as Oregon’s billion-dollar-a-year nursery industry.

Please contact your legislators today via email or at 800-332-2313 and urge them to pass both of these bills!

Will the Legislature Back Track on Oregon's Clean Energy Future?

On Friday, our august Executive Director Jonathan Poisner wrote about a major threat to Oregon's environment: House Bill 2940, which would roll back Oregon's commitment to a clean energy future. We urge you to contact your Senators today - either by calling them at 800-332-2313 or emailing them via this page.

Today's Oregonian has an overview of the fate of environment this legislative session thus far. Several bills -- both good for the environment and bad -- still hang in the balance.

House Passes Phase-Out of Toxic Chemical, Bill to Governor

On a 39-19 vote, the Oregon House today voted to pass SB 596A, a bill to phase out a dangerous chemical. From the press release:

The House passed a phased-in ban of a flame retardant commonly found in mattresses and other household products.  The bill, SB 596, adds Deca-BDE to the list of hazardous substances currently being phased out of the market due to potential public health risks.

“Deca is an effective fire retardant, but it poses potentially serious health risks,” said Representative Ben Cannon (D-Portland), who carried the bill on the House floor. “Using it does not make us safer when there are safe and equally effective alternatives to Deca.”

Leading companies have been phasing out deca over the past several years, including HP, Ikea, and others. The bill had the support of Oregon's fire fighters. More coverage from OLCV previous news. The bill was championed by Sen. Mark Hass, and carried in the House by Rep. Ben Cannon.

Congrats also to Sue Marshall, lobbyist for Willamette Riverkeepers and Aubudon Society of Portland, who advocated for the bill.

The chemical industry had spent over $100,000 on four high-profile lobbyists to try to kill the bill, but it passed with the support of five Republican Representatives (Reps. Berger, Bruun, Cameron, Kennemer, and Sprenger) as well as 34 Democrats (all Democrats but Rep. Schaufler, who voted no, and Rep. Komp, who was excused).  The bill now goes to the Governor.